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Fireworks explode inside the Fisht stadium at the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi.

AFP: Kirill Kudryavtsev

Australia's young winter Paralympians will carry the nation's expectations on their shoulders as they train to win in South Korea the gold medal that could not be grasped in Sochi.

As the Paralympic torch goes out on one of Australia's most disappointing and difficult Games to date, the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) is already plotting a strategy for a more positive 2018 campaign.

The curtain went down on the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games with a glittering closing ceremony at the Fisht stadium in Sochi on Monday morning (AEDT).

The hosts basked in the glory of easily topping the medals table with 30 golds, well ahead of second placed Germany who won nine. Canada was fourth while Australia finished in 19th place with bronze medals to Toby Kane and Jessica Gallagher.

In a huge compliment to Russia, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Sir Philip Craven closed the Games by declaring them the "best Paralympic Winter Games ever".

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the opening ceremony came when star Russian Paralympian Alexei Chuvashev rose from his wheelchair to climb a pole high above the stadium's field and nudge an apostrophe to change impossible to "I'm possible."

Looking ahead to South Korea in 2018 Australia is turning its attention to younger athletes such as snowboarders Ben Tudhope and Joany Badenhorst and sit-skier Tori Pendergast.

Fourteen-year-old Tudhope, who carried the Australian flag at the closing ceremony, was a bright spark in a testing campaign for the Australians.

As the youngest of all 550 athletes from 45 countries, the Sydney schoolboy utilised his wildcard entry to sneak into the top 10 of para-snowboard cross' Paralympic debut.

Before dislocating her patella in a training crash hours before the event, 19-year-old Badenhorst was clocking training times that would have secured her a bronze.

Not much went right for Australia

Opening ceremony flag-bearer Cameron Rahles-Rahbula was forced to withdraw from all his events after crashing in training.

The squad of nine athletes and two guides were also swallowed up by the grief of losing their team-mate Matt Robinson three weeks earlier, from serious head and neck injuries sustained in a race crash.

APC chief executive Jason Hellwig said the team had arrived in Russia in the most harrowing circumstances he had ever seen at a major sporting event.

But he was also hugely dissatisfied the squad could not realise their potential to win the elusive gold that has evaded the Australians since the triumphant 2002 Salt Lake City team won seven medals, including six gold.

"The one thing we wanted to achieve here was a gold medal," Hellwig said.

"We put ourselves in a position to do that, and we didn't get the mission done.